The German Federation of Consumer Organizations has threatened Blizzard with legal action unless the company highlights the requirement for constant internet connection on Diablo III packaging.

Strangely enough, even though some companies tried similar methods in the past, and quite expectedly stirred a whole lot of trouble, Blizzard still decided to run with it. Now, it is given until July 27, 2012, to do as the group asks or face legal action.

In related news, the company has been fined in South Korea over not refunding customers for the Error 37, which rendered the game unplayable due to sheer number of players and resulting server errors. Thankfully, the fine is £4,500, so we're talking pocket money for the company.

Well, it's not the victory many players hoped for, but will probably be enough to shut everyone up. Besides, those without an internet connection can't complain much to begin with.

After the rather disappointing sales of Need for Speed: The Run, rumors are circulating that the same team that worked on that title at EA Canada is working on a new “action combat and multiplayer game.” Details are thin, but it is described as “completely new IP.”

The EA Canada studio in Burnaby, Canada is looking for a Lead Game Play Designer as well a number of other positions. The job descriptions don’t really indicate if the title will be for the current generation of consoles or the next generation of consoles; but at this stage in the game, it would be pretty late to roll out new IP for this generation of consoles.

The EA Canada studio is home to Black Box, as well as EA Sports Canada, best known for the NHL Hockey titles. Black Box has been involved in the Need for Speed titles and EA’s Skate titles prior to that. We will have to see what develops, but don’t expect to hear anything about it at E3, as this project is simply too new for the publisher to announce.

No one really understands why Electronic Arts decided to work with famous action director Michael Bay to direct the new Need for Speed: The Run trailer. The team at Black Box who worked on the title might know why, but the final product that was released is actually quite good.

The trailer for The Run bears no resemblance to any of Bay’s movies, which we believe is a good thing. On the other hand, the just-released trailer presents a very cool, fast-paced look at the title that can best be described as sexy and gritty.

If the game lives up to the trailer, EA could have another hit on its hands for the Need for Speed franchise. Just think, almost two years ago EA was very concerned that their franchise was losing so much market share and their releases were stale and not selling. If The Run does well, it would appear that EA has turned things around and deserves kudos for doing so.

MessageLabs claims that we have seen a drop in spam by more than a third, thanks to action by Microsoft against one of the biggest botnets that serve it up. According to MessageLabs in 2010, 88 percent of all spam emails were sent by botnets, and of that botnet-originated spam, Rustock was responsible for an average of 28 percent.

Microsoft's action in taking out Rustock has unsurprisingly had a substantial impact on spam levels. But MessageLabs reports that other botnets have increased spam production over the same period, making it likely that previous spam volumes will be resumed soon enough.

However the data does give some positive news. It appears that ten botnets were responsible for about 74 percent of all spam. While hitting these botnets would be tricky, it is not impossible and spam could be reduced to reasonable levels. Botnets are also taking a hit as the ancient Windows XP is being replaced and infected systems are being fixed.

Microsoft's action might also mean that the law has to be changed. Vole had to use trademark law to have the server hardware seized. Existing anti-spam legislation only allows domain names to be taken which would not have switched off Rustock.